Hey Doc, our local County animal shelter lets and encourages people to take the sheltered dogs for a walk. Good for the dogs, good for the dog walkers and helps the staff. Probably have to sign some paper work and be approved.
Maybe that’s something you could look into. Though I admit, I’m not sure what’s going on during COVID with that policy.
I miss being able to eat my way through Costco with free samples. I’d only do it two or three times a year, but it helped me pick new foods without having to purchase a large quantity only to learn it wasn’t really for me.
I missed going to our state fair. Eat a crusty pup and some corn on the cob. My wife and I have our picture drawn. Buying something from a vendor that we end up not really using. Bring home a bag of raspberry filled scones. The folks that run the fair came up with an option for those looking for fair food. About 20 food vendors opened on the weekends the fair would have been open and folks got to drive through the fairgrounds and buy their favorites. My wife and I went but it wasn’t the same.
Movies. Trick or treating. Our local Christmas tree lighting. Our local chili cookoff. My kids could not go to their summer camps.
Our state fair got canceled, too, and they tried to do the same thing with the food vendors. They did NOT make it drive-through, however, and apparently things were a little out of hand - big crowds, people getting too close to each other, lots of people without masks. It sounded like a good idea. They should have taken some advice from your area.
Covid has stolen pretty much all my late summer through first week of winter plans.
And it’s also stolen Stumptown which was renewed and then cancelled 
Going to the library and just skimming the shelves. I usually go at least once a week. Our library lets you reserve books, but you have to know they’re there.
Deciding which way I want to go down an aisle in the supermarket.
Wearing a hat. I have to wear a headband to keep my growing-out bangs out of my face. Depending on the hate, it either knocks my headband out of position or it falls off due to the headband. My head is a battlefield.
I used to go to San Francisco and do walking tours based on a set of cards I have. I had almost finished them when the pandemic hit. I don’t feel like riding on BART, or buses, and even if I did I need places to go to the john, and I’d be nervous about finding any.
As for libraries, I’ve done some ebooks, and am catching up on reading my collection, but our library has a service now that if you check out a book for contactless pickup they’ll also lend you five or six similar ones. Not the same as browsing, but quite creative.
Church services. Going out to the movies, concerts or a play. Coffee with friends. Restaurant meals (several of my favorite restaurants here have closed for good). In-person meetings where you’re actually with people. Not having to think much about what I touch or whether or not I’m wearing a mask.
Handshakes. Hugs. Kisses.
I miss “Trader Joe’s”. They don’t although outside shoppers like Instacart) and they don’t do curbside.
Noooooo! The same thing happened to “I am not OK with this”.
Likewise. That sucks. I liked that show.
I’m probably retiring in 3½ yrs and our company takes covid extremely seriously so they’ve set up a program to facilitate different wfh levels depending on job requirements. It is highly likely that I’ll never see my co-workers f2f again.
Also I really enjoy cycling and had a big detour for my ride home - about 30 km with a stop at my favourite coffee place halfway. I’m discovering that I’m a bit more extrinsically motivated than I thought so it now takes more planning and self discipline to get rolling.
The coffee place is closed right now but I do worry about its survival.
My coworker’s wife is one of the best bakers I know. He always brings a plate of Christmas cookies in the week before Christmas.
This is his last Christmas at the company because he’s retiring in May. No Christmas cookies from the coworker’s wife this year.
Going to the track. Not that our local track runs at this time of year, but we do have a race book that runs all year.
Normally, I’d be sitting at the bar, betting horses, and commenting on my selections with the barman, whom I’ve known for years, and who would let me know in an instant if he was ill. But now, bar service is not allowed, and I have to sit with strangers, whom I do not know, at a table.
Who thought this was a good idea? A guy I know and trust, versus a group of people I don’t know, and don’t trust? The Alberta government, apparently.
I love playing horses, but I’m not going back to the race book until I can sit at the bar again.
Just this morning I biked down to a local coffee place that’s doing curbside espresso, then swung by the donut shop. Set up a little tableau on my kitchen table with coffee, apple fritter and a good book. In a patch of sunlight…
And pretended life was normal, and I was hanging out in a local coffee joint… ahh…
Sigh…with me it was a donut (raised with maple glaze), coffee (Maple cream flavored, I’m just a hedonist) and the latest Craig Johnson Wyoming sheriff mystery.
Meet you here, some place, tomorrow? Good coffee and a good book fixes many a thing.
It is therapeutic!
The trick is not looking over at the dirty dishes in the sink…
I handle that by avoiding the kitchen as much as possible and paper plates wash themselves… sort of.
And Another Thing
A friend died this week. He was 82 and fell often, so it’s not really unexpected. Like me, he was Jewish. For those who do not know, at a Jewish funeral after the coffin is lowered into the grave, the mourners all sprinkle dirt on it. Thus, they participate in literally burying the deceased. We’re taught it’s the last kindness you can do for a person. Due to the pandemic, I could not physically attend the funeral and help bury my friend.
That’s not a little thing. I’m sorry for your loss and for not being able to be there for the last kindness.